From: "Mark" 

LOL, I guess we would have if it weren't such old news! 

"Rich Gauszka"  wrote in
message news:4676fdaf{at}w3.nls.net...
> and it's not Gary and Mark making this charge 
>
> http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23400983-details/BBC+accused+of+in
stitutional+'trendy+left-wing+bias'/article.do
>
> The BBC is out of touch with large swathes of the public and is guity of
> self-censoring subjects that the corporation finds unpalatable, an
> official report has claimed.
>
> As part of the report's research the BBC's own controller of editorial
> policy admitted that people felt that the corporation was guilty of a
> "bias of omission" by not covering their views.
>
> Authors of the report called on the corporation to be more
"open-minded"
> in the views it reflects and warned against "bias of
elimination" which it
> branded "offensive".
>
> The report noted that the BBC had "come late" to several
important stories
> in recent years, including Euroscepticism and immigration , which as it
> happens, were "off limits" in terms of a liberal-minded
comfort zone".
>
> Research for the 80-page report showed that viewers were
"frustrated" by
> political correctness at the BBC and feel the corporation is dominated by
> a London-centric bias, reflected in its programmes, presenters and
> coverage.
>
> The report, which was commissioned by the BBC and written by independent
> programme-maker John Bridcut, also warned that if the BBC's viewers did
> not feel that the corporation was reflecting their lives and attitudes
> people would lose faith in it.
>
> Their review hit out at programme-makers for misjudging where "cultural
> mainstream" opinion stood and for wanting to "swim"
against popular
> opinion.
>
> Staff were told to avoid imposing their own liberal assumptions on the
> audience and told to "embrace a broader range of opinion".
>
> In the report, a news and current affairs producer recalled an instance
> where he had proposed a Newsnight investigation into the subject of
> "abortion on demand" but had been accused of being
"anti-abortion" for
> even suggesting the idea which was not pursued.
>
> Roger Mosey, former head of television news at the BBC, now head of sport,
> is also quoted as saying the corporation displays "fairly overt
support"
> for multiculturalism.
>
> He also admitting having some sympathy with claims of a
"liberal/pinko"
> agenda at times.
>
> He recalled a news item about ethnic communities becoming the majority in
> parts of east London, where a reporter had told him that they had "worked
> really hard" to find a white resident who was happy with the situation.
>
> Research in the review also found that even ethnic minorities felt that
> political correctness had gone to far and others said it was diluting
> comedy and entertainment at the broadcaster and complained of a
> "restrictive mind-set".
>
> Authors of the report called for a "periodic reality check"
on shows like
> The Archers and Casualty as well as news programmes.
>
> The Archers has at times come under fire for losing its rural culture with
> increasingly metropolitan storylines.
>
> It suggested that the broadcaster had been late in picking up on "pavement
> politics" such as concern over the loss of weekly rubbish collections and
> had been "caught on the hop" by the success of UKIP in the
2004 elections.
>
> It warned of the dangers of an "institutional bias" in
favour of stories
> generated by parliament rather than stories with populist roots.
>
> The report also urged the BBC not to "close down the debate"
on climate
> change, despite the corporation admitting that it no longer felt it
> necessary to justify equal space being given to opponents of the consensus
> on the issue.
>
> The broadcaster's Oscar's coverage also came in for criticism over the
> presenters who were "transfixed by the glitz" in an
"impartiality free
> zone' and called on the BBC to clamp down on its journalists becoming
> "opinion merchants ".
>
> It also faced claims of political correctness over Muslim terrorist
> suspects who were arrested last summer. One member of the public surveyed
> for the report claimed: "I think the BBC is too politically correct. The
> BBC were saying '21 men have been arrested' and I thought 'what's
> happening?' So I flicked over to Sky and it says '21 Asian men have been
> arrested." The report claims that the BBC's editorial advisory department
> and its recently formed College of Journalism need an extended role so
> that impartiality is addressed much earlier in the production process.
>
> It claims that impartiality should remain the "hallmark" of
the BBC and
> said the balanced natureof its reporting was an "essential
part" of the
> BBC's contract with its audience.
>
> The report singled out hit sitcom The Vicar Of Dibley and a season of
> programmes on Africa.
>
> An episode of The Vicar Of Dibley featured Dawn French promoting the Make
> Poverty History campaign.
>
> "The implication was that the cause was universal and uncontroversial,
> whereas the Make Poverty History website made clear that it had
> contentious political goals," the report said.
>
> Nowhere in the episode was it pointed out that the writer Richard Curtis
> was himself spearheading the campaign.
>
> The report also quoted a senior BBC executive as saying that impartiality
> in the Africa season was "as safe as a blood bank in the hands of
> Dracula".

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